3-year-old found frozen to death

Toronto boy died after wandering away from grandmother’s apartment in bitter cold overnight weather

February 21, 2015 09:48 AM

In this frame grab from security camera video provided by the Toronto Police Service via The Canadian Press, 3-year-old Elijah stands in an apartment building lobby, early Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, in Toronto. Elijah was found dead later Thursday morning after wandering away from the apartment building into bitterly cold weather. (AP Photo/Toronto Police Service via The Canadian Press)

Associated Press

TORONTO — A 3-year-old Toronto boy died Thursday after wandering away from an apartment building into bitterly cold weather overnight.

Police were notified of the boy’s disappearance at 7:30 a.m. by family members who said they woke to find him gone and the front door open. They said they’d last seen him in his bed Wednesday night.

Security camera video showed the boy, Elijah Marsh, leaving the building at about 4 a.m. After a massive search, he was found just after 10 a.m. in a nearby yard. He did not show any vital signs, and was rushed to the hospital. Police later announced his death on Twitter.

“You see the picture of that beautiful little boy with a nice smile and the video of the child going out into the cold,” Toronto police chief Bill Blair said. “It really is a tragic set of circumstances.”

Temperatures dipped to as low as minus-20 Celsius (minus-4 Fahrenheit) during the six hours Elijah was outdoors.